Ghost Fish
September 4, 2023
Kevin & Theirry had wanted to try for sturgeon since last season and today was the day. A late fall weather cancellation had them back and this time they brought their sons. Braydon & Holden were also looking forward to seeing one of those dinosaurs as well, as we ventured out.
The waters were a bit rough when we arrived at the area, but it still looked doable. After idling around for a while, I settled on a few smaller marks, hoping for a bite. Unfortunately, the bites were only from the gobies and we moved around in hopes of finding fish somewhere else. This went on for several hours and eventually I just pulled the plug on the sturgeon. I had combed countless amounts of water in various depths to find very few marks. These fish had just vanished and I was done looking! Time for plan B and some bass & walleye!
We made a long run to open water and they began dropshotting a big flat in hopes of finally catching some fish. Several perch were landed from here, but not much else. The floating weeds were making it next to impossible to keep the lines clean, so I moved on.
The next place at least had fishable water and it didn’t take long before Holden was into a bass. At only 7 years old, he struggled to land the fish, but eventually brought it to net. To say he was happy would have been an understatement! After a few pics from his dad, he returned the smallie to the water and began fishing once more. Almost immediately, his rod was bent again and this time the bass was even bigger! He did battle with this one for a bit longer, but managed to bring it close enough for me to net. He was on fire and all smiles for the pics.
We were making short drifts over a small area and on the next pass both Thierry & Brayden had chances, but unfortunately their fish came off. Holden however, hooked up and this time his fish was even bigger than the previous two! This bass took him for a ride and brought back memories from when I was a kid. He may have struggled, but he didn’t give up and was rewarded with another good bass. I shot several pics, along with the others and he released his catch to be caught another day.
Multiple drifts were made over the area with bites becoming fewer and fish being lost, until Thierry finally managed to keep one pinned. This was the one I was looking for and I hoped he would be able to land it. Several jumps later I slid the net under what was to be the biggest fish of the day! He was also officially on the board! We took a few photos in order for him to have proof of his success and he let his catch go afterwards. Now there was just Brayden left to land a fish. It wasn’t for lack of bites, but so far, he just wasn’t lucky!
I had made another move, due to slow fishing and settled on a different deep water flat for them to try. Many more perch were caught here and Kevin managed a few more walleye as well. I even got in the game and landed a couple of Walters too! Right down to the wire, Brayden finally hooked and landed his first fish and it was a decent walleye. The skunk was finally off of his back! He followed it up with another perch and we were done.
Today was an interesting series of events and constant adjustments were needed to make it successful. Too bad the sturgeon fishing didn’t work out, but there’s always something to catch! Our afternoon was definitely better, despite all the boat traffic and rolling waves due to the perfect weather. At least some of the fish I marked came out to play and everything was released to fight another day!!
